Intro to Processing

You'll need to download the latest version of Processing for your computer. It will run on Linux, Windows, or Apple computers. You can get it from Processing.org. Just unzip the program and run it from the folder. I've found students often like to drag the application out of the folder to the desktop. If you do this it will not run. If you want it on the desktop just create a shortcut.

On the processing website you will find some really good tutorials to get you started. I'll be referring back to these quite often. I also highly recommend the book Getting Started with Processing by Casey Reas and Ben Fry. It is by far the most useful resource I've found for beginners to both processing and programming in general. I will also re-presenting material here that I created for my Pre-Engineering: Physical Computing class.

When you're ready to add some more complexity to your programs, particularly if you're thinking about creating simulations for math or science you should check out the Nature of Code by Daniel Shiffman. Right now it's just a collection of web based tutorials, but it will soon be a complete book.